Speechless: Part I
by bowtruckle90
Summary: Fabian Prewett left and infant daughter when he died. Ten years later Harry Potter meets her at Hogwarts. She can't speak, but the two find they have more in common than they could have ever expected. Rated M for late chapters.
1. Chapter 1

An infant with mahogany brown hair and big hazel eyes touched with gold flecks that made them glisten in the tiniest bit of light, laid in the arms of her father. There were men in the house. Spells were going off everywhere. Fabian had pulled his daughter out of her crib at some early hour and the three of them rushed into her uncle's room on the back of the house. They barricaded the doorway with a dresser and chairs and were waiting quietly. There was a bang, and then a slamming shuttering sound. She couldn't see anything beyond her Daddy and uncle's trouser pant legs. The rattling got louder and Daddy turned and knelt down in front of the closet.

Fabian swept his wand over the floor inside the closet which opened into a secret compartment underneath. There was a bassinet inside. He laid his daughter inside and swept his hand through the hair on her head before he latched the false floorboards after her. The rattling was so loud it was no wonder no one would have heard the baby cry, even if she had. There was a huge crash above the child's head and a lot of harsh words she didn't understand. Something heavy hit the floor and then there was more yelling, but it wasn't as loud, then there was a bright flash of green and everything was quiet. Footsteps traveled across the floor above and faded away.

A long time later she fell asleep and was woken up by a man in violet robes and half-moon spectacles. He had long white hair and a matching beard. The man lifted her out of the floor and draped a cloak over her head and face before moving her out of the room and out of the house.

It was warm outside and there was pale light shining through the dark fabric she was looking through. There was an unpleasant squeezing feeling and the next thing she knew she was at a familiar house being handed over to her Aunt Molly with something called "sincerest condolences".


	2. Chapter 2

The new students had filed into the entrance hall, among Fabiana's cousin Ronald Weasley, the brainy Hermione Granger she had met on the train, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, his cronies, and a number of other people. Hidden as close to the wall as possible was a student who stuck out rather like a sore thumb. She was clearly shy and almost overly thin, but very pretty, with chocolate hair matched in perfection only by sparkling dark eyes and an angelic face with pink lips that seemed to be a tribute to the perfectly blush colored rose.

"You're a pretty one, aren't you?" Draco started in with a superior tone. The girl arms were crossed and hunched a little. She didn't answer him, ignoring his remarks and stared around the room, memorizing faces and trying to find her cousin. Or the girl in her compartment with bushy brown hair and a know-it-all attitude. There had also been a boy who was rather clumsy and had lost his toad earlier. Neither of them seemed like a good person to start opening up to, well, as well as she could open up to people anyway.

"Why don't you say anything?" Draco was still questioning her. Where were that girl and boy? Where was Ron? If she had somewhere to walk to maybe he would leave her alone.

There! She was talking about something or other with a girl she didn't recognize, but that didn't matter. She pushed past Draco and cut through the crowd toward…Hermione! That was her name.

"Hey," Draco called as he stomped after her, "No one walks away from me!"

"I'd say she just did." A boy had spoken. She was only half-way toward Hermione, but this boy was just next to her.

"Well well," Draco said. "So the word on the train is true. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts."

There was a murmuring throughout the new pupils waiting in the hall. She felt as though she had been struck by lightening. Harry Potter was not only standing right beside her, but he had just spoken for her.

Draco continued. "This is Crabbe and Goyle," he said nodding toward the large cronies behind him. "And I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He noticed the boy standing with Harry. The boy had red hair and had snickered. Fabiana was quite relieved to have come across her cousin at last. Draco rounded on him. "Think my name's funny, do you? Might I ask yours? Red hair and a hand me down robe," he sneered. "You must be a Weasley."

He looked back at her, practically hiding behind Harry who was about a half foot taller than her. "A word to the wise Potter, not all wizarding families are alike. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Draco held out his hand. She thought for a moment that he might just take it. But Harry simply said, "I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself thanks."

By then Professor McGonagall had returned. She tapped Draco on the shoulder with her scroll to make him turn and then looked to the other students. "We're ready for you now."

As the students on front of them filed in, Harry turned to her and said, "Are you all right?"

She nodded, smiled, and then raced toward the front of the pack.

When they reached the front of the hall with all the current students watching, McGonagall instructed all the students to wait along the steps leading up to the parapet where the teachers' table sat.

She began to call for students to go up to the stool set on the parapet and have a rather raggedy looking talking hat placed on their heads. It would shout out a name and the student would happily join the table it corresponded to.

Fabiana had been sorted rather early, into Gryffindor naturally. Harry was called as a Griffindor not long after and with much debate from the hat and took a seat beside her after shaking the hands of several more of Fabiana's cousins, all readheaded. Later Ron sat on the other side of Harry, and Hermione sat with the clumsy boy down the way some with another of the red headed boys.

When everyone was seated, the man stood and said, "Let the feast begin." The plates on the tables before them filled with food, and everyone dug into their favorite dishes.

Before she could even decide on what to take first, Harry turned to her and said gently, "What is your name?"

She smiled again, and pulled out a notepad. Her thoughts would immediately show up on the paper, and when the page was full, it would erase itself and start anew. She placed it on the table between them and created a thought. Harry looked down at the page and read. After reading he smiled and held out his hand, "Fabiana Prewett, I'm Harry Potter." She took his hand and shook it. Then she thought something again and tapped the pad to draw his attention to it.

'Sorry about the paper,' it said. 'I lost my ability to speak when I was younger.'

Harry said it was perfectly fine and they happily ate side by side for the rest of the feast, listening to Ron, speaking with Ron's prefect brother Percy and talking-reading. Fabianadidn't eat much, opting for a bit of roast chicken, some mashed potatoes and a couple spoonfuls of peas. She had a bite of Harry's cake when he offered it at dessert, but didn't take a slice for herself.

They all spoke amicably until Harry started asking questions about the Weasley family. Percy, ever the informant, began talking about the living relatives first, but it didn't take long before he started talking about the ones who had passed. "Now our uncles Gideon and Fabian were true heroes. Belong in the history books really. They died for the cause in the war all those years ago. And they died proud men let me tell you."

Here Fred interrupted. "Speaking of Uncle Fabian…"

There was a note fluttering like a bird onto the table in front of Fabiana's plate. Fabiana paused for a moment and reached for it. As she was unfolding it and the shape of the paper became evident George said quietly, "Are you sure you want to open that?"

"Why?" Harry asked.

Fabiana sat and read the scrap of paper for a moment before excusing herself and retreating from the hall.

Fred picked up the paper and sighed heavily, passing it to the twins. When they were done Ron took it and Harry looked on with him. It was an article from the Daily Prophet from August 8:

Ten Years Ago Today…

Gideon and Fabian Prewett were struck down at the peak of the Wizard War, only 3 months before the defeat of You-Know-Who. They were killed by five Death Eaters whose identities are still unknown. They were survived by a sister, six nephews, and Fabian's daughter, Fabiana Prewett, whose mother left her daughter to Prewett, the supposed father, and disappeared. Fabian and Gideon are remembered as war heroes of the highest caliber by most, but I believe we would do better to remember those who faced many more foes than a mere five against two, and survived. Heroes, perhaps, but the reverence we pay their memories should be reserved for those individuals who did more for the greater good than the two put together.

-Rita Skeeter

"That woman is terrible." Percy was scowling into his mashed potatoes.

"Who is she?" Harry asked.

"A journalist," George answered. "Of the worst kind. She writes horrible things about people. When Fabiana read that article last month she didn't eat for three days and far as we could tell she didn't sleep hardly at all. Mom was pretty distraught, but I mean, she only got the news about them when Dumbledore brought Fabiana to us after it happened. She was there. She heard the whole thing. Not that she remembers, she was only a year old but still, never heard a peep from her since. No spell damage just…emotional damage."

"And her mother didn't disappear," Fred interjected. "Not really. See, Fabiana's mother wasn't even married to our uncle; the baby was an accident. But she decided to keep her and try and raise her together with Uncle Fabian. Only when he went to get them from St. Mungos after Fabiana was born she was gone. No one knows for sure but the auror office thought that there was foul play involved. One of their own would never run off without her newborn like that. She was as straight an arrow as they came."

Harry did not understand what an auror was, but he wasn't really paying attention to that; he was listening to his own thoughts. For the first time since he had learned about the war Harry felt a weight on his heart. No longer a feeble dream, this war had suddenly become a painful reality.

After dinner as they left the Great Hall, George scooped up the article from the table and, eyeing the Slytherine prefects who were pointing toward the band of red headed boys and snickering, folded it into a paper plane. He let it loose when they reached the corridor and shot it down with a burst of fire from his wand. Harry looked toward the Slytherine students filed beside them. There were some burly youths of about fifteen or so, two boys, who were smiling maliciously at the twins as they passed on different staircase heading downward while the Griffindors stepped onto a case leading upward. Percy at the front looked at the charred paper as it floated to the floor, and though he seemed like he wanted to say something, he clearly was more interested in justice for his cousin.

When they reached the common room of the Griffindor tower, Fabiana was already inside. She declined to move from her seat in the fluffy arm chair when Percy led everyone inside and instructed them on which staircase was which and told them their things had already been brought up. After the students started to disperse and examine their new surroundings, Percy made his way over to his cousin. Harry tried not to listen, but he was too intruiged to turn a blind eye to the conversation.

"I'm really sorry Ana. It's just, I remember them so well and when I get the chance I try my best to sing their praises because of people like that Skeeter woman. Someone should know how brave they were going out besides us."

Fabiana made no indication she would respond so Percy just let her be. When Percy had retreated Harry sat down on the sofa near Fabiana. "I bet it doesn't help. My family, my aunt and uncle, are terrible. Living with them makes me feel lonely. But even when your family's nice, I bet you still feel like you're the only one who's hurting."

Where the girl had not moved a muscle before, she now nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

Fabiana sighed again. Harry tried to seem unconcerned for her sake, to try and put her at ease, but found he was doing a rather poor job of it. At least she knew something about magic, even if all her spells had to be done with the power of the mind and nothing else (standard education for seventh years, Hermione had informed Harry on the first day of classes). Harry on the other hand was starting from scratch. Charms had easily been one of the most enjoyable classes thus far, and Herbology wasn't bad. Wednesday nights were for Astronomy, which was nice since it was an excuse to stay up late. History of magic was easily the worst class. There was a ghost teaching it that drawled on and on causing many napping students and none too few comas.

Transfiguration turned out to be one of the most difficult classes. And not surprisingly Defense was one of the most entertaining. Come the first Friday Fabiana finally began to smile with an easy expression over breakfast without a hint of concern. When harry asked why at breakfast Ron sulked, while answering, "Double Potions with the Slytherines."

Already knowing he was likely not to be keen on Professor Snape, Harry couldn't understand why Ana was so happy. On the way, Fabiana wrote him a note on her pad that explained that potions wasn't a class that required spells so this was a class Fabiana could just be happy in and feel normal. No special attention or help with non-verbal spell casting.

In the end, Harry was Snape's least favorite student and likewise Snape was Harry's least favorite teacher, Neville had another accident, Hermione was near perfect in her potion results, but Fabiana was the real star. Snape called her after class to give her some books she might enjoy, so Harry and Ron went down to the grounds to meet Hagrid for afternoon tea.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry and Fabiana were sitting on the grounds of Hogwarts enjoying their last day before the summer break. Since September Harry had made great strides in learning sign language with Ana, so she was able to talk to him without using the notepad anymore. Sometimes Harry didn't bother speaking at all. Hermione was trying but it didn't seem to come as naturally to her. Ron had stopped trying by November, dubbing the Standard Wizarding Sign Language system "flailing".

It had been a rough year. Harry learned more about himself than he had ever guessed possible. He had friends for the first time in his life, and though he would never admit it to Ron or Hermione, a best friend in Ana. Ana herself had changed. She had opened up a lot since the beginning. Harry promised to write her as often as possible, though he cautioned that he might send two letter for Ron's every one, just to make it seem a little fair. He had more in common with Ana than anyone he had met, but not for any concrete reason he could fathom. It just seemed they had a deep bond.

Only a day ago they had had quite the adventure with Hermione and Ron. They had saved the sorcerer's stone and exposed that Voldemort wasn't actually gone, for Dumbledore anyway. A big deal, for four first years. On the other hand they had all worked together to get through the security around the artifact. Harry had figured out the key room, Hermione took on the devil's snare, Ron conquered the chess set, but Ana had been the most help. Without her Harry never would have gotten back out of the chasm again. She had followed him, even when he had said not to, and it was a good thing. She retarded the flames encasing the room enough to make it through to him, receiving a rather nasty burn on her shoulder, and pulled him out again. Had she not been there, Dumbledore had said, Harry might have been burned alive.

As the sun went down over the lake, Harry thought of how much he was going to miss this place. A little over two months and he would be back. With the Dursley's it might as well be two years.

The bell in the tower rang for the feast call. With a sigh, Harry got up and offered Ana a hand. She took it and they slowly made their way back to the Great Hall to celebrate the Slytherine's victory over the House Cup for the seventh consecutive year. Same number of years as the Quiddich Cup.


End file.
